The Tyra Banks Matriarchy: A Scholar's Take On America's Next Top ModelThe Atlantic's corrspondent talks with Rhonda Loverude about the series's recurring archetypes (the Odd and Seemingly Unattractive Woman, the Young Naïve Girl, the Extremely Religious Woman, the Bitch, etc.), the counterintuitive ways the show can boost ordinary women's confidence, and - because she is a humanities scholar - the subversion of heteronormative patriarchy.
The Atlantic 05/20/13